I'll Break Your Nose, Rubber Boy
by GrimmaulDee
Summary: Pauline is a young super. With her mother depressed, Pauline refuses to be anything close to a hero, being at the bottom of the social latter doesn't help either. With new friends and bullies can Pauline change her mind or will they cause her to pop? OC
1. Label: Not Wanting to be Here

Disclaimer: I do not own Sky High or its characters. I only own my OCs Pauline, Rebecca and Marco.

Originally Pauline was going to have magma-related powers but I thought of a power that I liked much more. This power also makes me feel that she is closer to the love interest than another character.

This chapter has been edited once again. I felt that it was too choppy and did not hold enough depth.

**I'll Break Your Nose, Rubber Boy**

Chapter 1

_Label: Not Wanting to be Here_

Mom didn't like talking about Dad. That was mostly the reason she didn't like me going to school. It was the reason I didn't want to be a hero, but "with great power comes great responsibility", so I had to go to school. It was mandatory.

It was the beginning of the new school year and I was entering a prestige school for superheroes, Maxville's very own Sky High. Sky High was the king of all superhero schools, most of it was due to the large percentage of superheroes in the country living in Maxville. It was some sort of weird phenomenon.

So here I was, standing at the corner of Orchard Drive and Crane Lane, leaning against the metal pole that held the yellow bus stop sign and waiting for the bus to pick me up. I looked down the two streets, pale orange and red leaves littered the ground. A slight breeze tangled with my hair. I sighed.

My late chariot would bring me to the fabulous floating high school in the sky where the rest of my life would be planned out for me depending on my power and placement. I would either become a Hero or Sidekick. Forgive me; the new term is Hero Support. I was excited yet miserable; going to this school would mean that I would, for the first time in my life, meet other kids like myself. Many of the houses on my street were childless, singles or lone couples. Any seemingly close teenagers were normal or incredibly good at hiding their powers. I wondered what their powers would be. Would I be judged because of my placement? Most likely.

I looked myself over in my head; I was dressed in one of my casual bests, that's what everyone does on their first day of school, right? Clothes are a big part of the social ladder. Blue stylish jeans, some black flats, and a long magenta and purple striped sweater. I fixed my ponytail as I waited, backpack swinging on my arm.

Hearing the mechanical buzz of a vehicle I was brought back to reality. A bus creaked as it came to a stop, it looked completely normal. The doors slid open revealing an older woman at the wheel, her nametag read 'Barb'. Was this the right bus?

"Hurry up deary or we'll leave you when we lift off." The older woman's voice was soft but stern.

Lift off? This was most definitely the bus. I was about 89% sure. The woman looked nice, but she could have been a bit crazy. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. I hitched my backpack higher up my shoulder and climbed onto the bus. Staring at the many heads of teens seated I knew that they were the same as me. Some looked up, most likely it was their first year too, and others kept their heads down, listening to their musical devices or reading.

I grabbed the seat behind Barb. Crowds were not my thing, like so many other people felt as well. As soon as I sat down Barb lurched the bus into drive and we moved on to another bus stop a few blocks down. Two teens waited for the doors to open then walked aboard, a girl and boy with similar features. Light sandy brown hair, bluey-green eyes, fair skin. Siblings, most definitely. The girl smiled down at me then sat down on my seat and the boy, her brother, took the seat behind us. I scooted over towards the side of the bus.

This new girl looked like she was of higher social status. She wore her hair in a stylish side braid. Her clothes looked brand new, and possibly designer. Acid wash jeans, a knitted sweater and wide neck cut shirt underneath. Cute matching earrings and necklace jingled softly as she adjusted in her seat.

"I'm Rebecca, it's nice to meet you." The girl, Rebecca, held out her hand. I stared a minute but then remembered how rude that may have made me look.

"Oh, uh, I'm Pauline. Nice to meet you too." I shook her hand. She had nice nails, French tips on sparkly green nail polish. Taking a quick glance at my own nails I though they looked very boring, no sign of any colourful varnish, I'd have to paint them when I got home.

"That's a pretty name." She smiled at me.

"Thanks." My ears began to burn. It was always so awkward when someone compliments things such as a name. Rebecca then pointed to the boy behind us. He wore a green hoodie with the hood up and had placed earphones in to listen to an ipod. "That's my brother Marco, do you know him?"

"No, this is my first year." Rebecca was friendly and it made me a bit more comfortable.

"Me too! I can't wait for Power Placement, I really hope to be a hero." She bounced on the seat making it creak from the rusty springs. She was a little ball of fun wasn't she?

"So, uh, what're your powers?" I was a bit nervous asking, maybe supers took offence if you asked them.

"It's a surprise! You won't find out until we get to school. Are you waiting too?" Rebecca reminded me of a Barbie, there was always a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I want it to be a surprise too." Lie. I didn't want anyone to know my power, I didn't want to be here, on this bus, going to Sky High.

The bus lurched once again and began to pick up speed, going faster and faster heading for a closed bridge. Oh God, this was not going to be fun. Panic flooded my head when I realised there was no form of safety gear. Crossed seatbelts suddenly appeared and tethered us into our seats. There were a few confused gurgles from the other freshmen. With mechanical whirls, the bus transformed into a rocket and blasted off the bridge and into the sky. A scream rushed through my mouth from the sudden jolt and my stomach lifted into my throat. Flying was one thing I was not accustomed to. I've only been on a plane once, but that was a plane, this was a rocket. Beside me Rebecca squeezed her eyes shut and her lips moved quickly as she muttered things to herself. Taking a deep breath I tried to settle my stomach back to its anatomically correct position, it only lowered a tiny bit.

It took less than five minutes to reach the floating mini-city, accounting for its size. The landing was pretty smooth, looking out the window I saw another bus practically drop to the pavement. Barb, I thought, you're wonderful. Again my stomach rose into my throat, some people screamed. Glancing over to my seat buddy I saw that Rebecca took the landing well, I thought she might be one of the screamers. Coming to a full stop Barb opened the bus doors and everyone stood up in their seats, waiting to get off the bus. We all filed out.

Separating, the juniors and seniors trotted off to join their friends, Marco being one of them, while the freshmen gathered together on the grass in front of the front court yard. Rebecca stood beside me; we stood in awe as we observed our surroundings.

Students were bustling everywhere around this enormous school, each were doing their own thing. Powers showed up here and there, one kid was picking on another demanding his lunch money. When the kid refused the bully twisted one stretchy arm around him and used the other to search his backpack. What a wonderful way to use you powers rubber boy, you're sure to be a hero.

Bells rang and a representative of the student body came to greet us. She looked too nice in her blue dress and yellow cardigan, a real Mary Jane, not really my kind of person, but you can't really like everybody, and as long as I didn't have to see her all the time I think I would be good. Our group followed her inside the school to the gym. I knew that, as we roamed the hallways, I would get lost several times for the first week, before I could fully navigate this school. Entering the gymnasium I began to slow, it was huge. I knew that the school was big, but this room shouldn't be able to fit inside. However, this was a good thing, considering the school is populated by super powered freaks.

Without any warning a blinding white light flew in from the back doors and landed by a pedestal. There were many 'awes' as the light revealed itself to be the principal of Sky High, Ms. Powers.

"Welcome to Sky High! During the upcoming years here you will train to become the best hero or hero support that you can be. But remember, your actions will lead you towards your future, whether it be good or bad. Good luck young heroes!" Her voice echoed slightly as she transformed back into a comet and flew out of the gymnasium. It was kind of nice that she let her speech be so short. It was refreshing from the long speeches that normal principals usually held back in junior high.

Rebecca glided over to me and squeezed my arm. She bounced, shaking me with her.

"This is so exciting!" She giggled. I smiled back at her. I kind of was excited too, but only a little bit.

The gymnasium floor gave off the metallic whirling of gears and opened up to reveal a man in a sweat suit. The floor continued to rise above the rest of the floor level, creating a ring. I didn't like that ring, not only did it remind me of the cheesy wrestling shows, but it was probably the place where our powers were going to be demonstrated and we'll be judged then sorted.

"Welcome to Power Placement newbies. I am Coach Boomer, previously known as the famous Sonic Boom." His voice was loud and commanding. "You will come up when your name is called and you will present your power. I will be the judge of your placement. There are some people I like to call whiner-babies who would like to disagree with my decision. There will be no whiner-babies, my word is final!" Coach Boomer let out a sonic wave that pushed some students back. I was sure he had rehearsed his speech over and over many times, loving his job. Coach Boomer, sliding his hat up with his thumb, lifted up a clipboard and began to call upon the first unfortunate students.

My stomach felt bubbly, I placed a hand in front of my mouth casually so not to draw any attention to myself. I continued to watch power by power be revealed.

Laser vision.

Toxic breath.

Classic flight.

Morphing into a bee.

Then, to my surprise, the boy from earlier, the one with elastic powers walked on stage. How was it that a freshman could intimidate and bully on their very first day of school? He was placed as a Hero. Apparently my sarcasm has backlash.

"Rebecca Mitchells!" Rebecca looked back at me, producing a large grin and shrugging her shoulders excitedly, before she pranced over to the stage and hopped up the stairs. Coach Boomer gave her a disapproving glance. He seemed to be a killjoy much to my own displeasure but that didn't seem to affect Rebecca.

"Show me what you've got pipsqueak." Boomer snarled. With those intimidating words Rebecca activated her power and I was in utter awe. Her petite 5'2" frame grew to an exponential height, as tall as the gym ceiling would allow her to. She was the fifty foot woman! Rebecca then began to shrink, not back to her original size, but even smaller. I was jealous, being able to adjust one's size was a pretty nifty power, it comes in handy all the time.

"Alright," Boomer extended the 'i' as he spoke. Giving an approving nod he shouted, "Hero!" and wrote the placement on his clipboard. Rebecca squealed with joy. Quickly she ran over to my side.

"Ah! This is great!" I laughed at her excitement.

"Wow! That's sure was a surprise." I smiled and she smiled back. Seeing Rebecca's excitement made me feel happy to be here and for a little bit it took away the nervous feeling in my stomach. The feeling in my stomach worsened when I heard a particular name. Warren Peace. There was no doubt that many of the students had heard of him. His father was a notorious villain. It would be wise to stay away from him. Boomer yelled out his position, Hero. What was it with Coach Boomer and placing obvious troubled teens into Hero placement? I sighed.

"Pauline Roche!" My stomach dropped, but I wasn't sure if I was nervous or not, I already knew where I would be placed. Rebecca gave me a light shove, making me realise that I had been standing there a little too long. Everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion, the group of teens moving apart, my legs moving, Coach Boomer staring me down. I made my way up the steps and onto the platform. Boomer looked me over and glared, I had known from the moment I saw him that this wasn't going to be a pleasant experience, but with that sharp stare, I knew for sure that he would be my least favourite teacher. He opened his mouth and slow deformed words came out. Loud shouting brought my would up to the right pace.

"Well, get going!" He was too impatient for my tastes. I took a deep breath and activated my power. Nothing changed really. A light gloss covered my body, but it was hardly visible. Coach Boomer, however was able to see it and gave a disappointed grunt.

"So, that's it?" I nodded. Boomer, not liking that answer, went to push me. I'm not sure why he decided that pushing me would be a good way of seeing my power, but as his hand came in contact with my shoulder it simply slipped off. With the force that Boomer hand sent at me he came very close to falling on the floor, face flat against the lacquered wood.

Straightening himself, Boomer growled, "What are you, soap scum?" He glared down at me, as if challenging me to try to defend myself so he could burst and throw more insults at my face. I never understood mean teachers. Weren't they supposed to make you want to learn, to help you, make you feel like you could accomplish anything? Misery loves company, I guess.

"I'm just soapy." I shrugged. There was no need to elaborate on my simple powers.

"SIDEKICK!" Boomer bellowed out his decision and wrote down my declared placement. Letting the soapy gloss return into my body I trotted down the stairs, then walking normally I joined Rebecca in the crowd. Coach Boomer continued on down the names of many other teens until finally the loud ringing of the school bell signalled lunch.

"Off you go. Meet back here after lunch to finish your placement!" The deafening loud coach barked once again.

Timidly the group of freshmen travelled towards the cafeteria being led by another student representative. Through one long hall our group reached the cafeteria. Again, and I'm not sure as to why, but I was surprised to see a decently large room full of bustling and hungry teens. This school made completely no sense to me, every room seemed a bit too large to fit inside of this school. The group split up, leaving me and Rebecca alone.

"Though luck on being a sidekick Pauline." Rebecca placed her hand on my shoulder. "For what it's worth, being soap can help get you out of sticky situations." She gave me a warming smile.

"Nice pun, but I don't mind being a sidekick." I smiled back and laughed. Rebecca's face lit up in a brilliant grin.

"Then maybe you'll be my sidekick! That would be so much fun!" As I thought about my situation, the idea of being a sidekick to Rebecca didn't sound that bad. If I had to be a public super for the rest of my life I'd choose to be paired with this wonderfully bubbly girl beside me. Although we had just met Rebecca had made quite the impression on me, I never liked being around downers, Rebecca was quite the opposite, with the advantage of not being annoyingly happy.

"Come on, let's go find my brother." Rebecca pulled on my wrist. We weaved through many people and between cluttered tables. Luckily we spotted Marco quickly. He was sitting near the back, off to the right with a few others. As we approached the table Marco's face exploded into a Cheshire smile and waved a hand inviting us to sit down.

"So, how'd it go Becca?" Marco's voice was soft for a male's, very much like his sister's.  
Sitting down, Rebecca pulled out her lunch, a gooey looking peanut butter and jelly sandwich accompanied by a juice box and a tupperware full of sliced fruits. Comparing lunches I reached into the brown paper bag and placed on the cafeteria table, a bologna sandwich, a granola bar and a juice box as well. Not too shabby.

"It went great. I'm a Hero!" Rebecca took a large bite out of her sandwich.

"That's great!" Marco gave his sister a congratulatory smile. He then turned his attention over to me.

Offering his hand to me, he introduced himself, "I'm Marco, but I'm sure Becca has told you about me already."

"You're right, she did. I'm Pauline." I offered up my own hand. We shook.

"So how'd you do Pauline? What's your power?" Marco leaned on the table, propping his chin on the palms of his hands.

"I'm a sidekick. It's nothing really cool." I waved my hand in a dismissing manner. But Marco didn't seem to like the answer.

"It can't be that bad. I haven't heard any rumours going on about a student's powers, yet." Marco smirked at me teasingly.

"If you really want to know, it's a bad case of soap residue. What about you?" I poked a small straw into my juice box.

"That's not too bad. It's better than a kid in my year changing colours. I'm a hero. I can change my body into any solid material, like steel or sponge." As he said this he used his powers to change from normal skin to steel to sponge and back.

"That's pretty neat." I said after swallowing the sweet taste of grape juice.

"Yeah, I like to think so too." Marco gave me a cheesy smile which made me laugh.

I had two new friends and no one hated me so far. Life at Sky High wasn't too bad, considering I was the lowest of the low in super society. I think I'll be able to remotely stand high school.


	2. Save the Sympathy

Disclaimer: I do not own any aspects of _Sky High. _I only own my OCs, Pauline, Rebecca, Marco, Chaney and Donnie.

* * *

Chapter 2

_Save the Sympathy_

Life in a super high school wasn't too bad. School seemed to be on high speed for the first couple of weeks. Classes were interesting, there was general normal high school classes and then there was Hero Support 101, extreme Gym, Mad Science and Hero History. Our hero classes take up a large portion of our curriculum. In Hero Support we learn how to respond and help our hero, to make our costume, think of catch phrases, change at an incredible pace and so on. In Gym we train for durability and awesome tricks such as scaling a wall in record time. Then there is Mad Science, learning what can cause powers and how to make, identify and disarm superhero gadgets. Classes were pretty interesting. The only bad thing about school so far was the busy hallways, but I had learned a trick from watching several other people, by activating your power you could usually get someone to move away from you, unless of course their power happened to react to yours.

The school bell rang and the teens swarmed the halls. My next class was Hero Support 101 with Mr. Boy. Mr. Boy is a very strange man, very strange indeed. But I liked him, he's funny and supportive. He was the perfect picture of an old fashioned sidekick.

I waited for Rebecca to meet me by our lockers. What are the odds that our lockers are only four lockers apart? Rebecca was doing fairly well with school; the hero crowd immediately took to her. The only thing they were unsure about was me. They liked to tease Rebecca saying that, "there's a sidekick stuck to your shoe." She never seemed to mind the teasing; she would just smile and nod her head. I wasn't too concerned with those people; I only needed to be concerned if one of the ended up being my hero in my last year.

I had made a few other friends of my own in some of my classes. There was Donnie who, although he couldn't stretch far, had incredible flexibility and could twist his head around twelve times! Not necessarily a hero power but still pretty cool. We met in gym class while running laps. He tripped over his shoelace and I being behind him happened to fall over him. Boomer subtracted ten marks each for not being able to avoid the accident, "Sidekicks should be quick!" Donny hasn't fully grown into his powers yet, at times he can loose control and his leg or arm can become completely useless and just hang there like it had no bone. He's pretty nice, relaxed most of the time, and smart too.

Then there's Chaney. I wouldn't really call her normal. Remember how one of the powers during Power Placement was morphing into a bee? Yeah, that was Chaney. She's one of the people who, instead of inheriting their powers from their parents, get them from some sort of freak accident. She gained her powers when she was eleven; her family lived in an area where factories were secretly dumping toxic waste. After years of radiation Chaney was stung by a bee, and because of an allergic reaction and the toxic radiation Chaney developed super powers.

There were others but they're more of acquaintances than real friends. Anyways, Rebecca liked Donnie and Chaney too. But we mostly hung out after school and on the weekends, you know, the hero-sidekick clique thing. There were the occasional days where we all hung out together. So, friendships at Sky High were decent and all was good in the world.

Rebecca walked up to her locker and smiled at me.

"Pauline, you wanna eat lunch outside today?" Rebecca opened her locker and traded a binder for a text book.

"Sure. Don't wait up for me though, I have to go find Prof. Medulla to talk to him about an assignment." Adjusting my backpack, I pushed myself off the lockers to begin our walk through the crowded halls.

"Need any help? Rebecca asked.

"Nah, I just need to ask a few questions. I mean, does it really matter if we know the difference between a ray and a laser?"

"Well, a laser is-"

"Ah ah ah! No need to get technical smarty pants." I pulled on the waist of Rebecca's pants, twisting her back and forth subtly. "But if you're willing to help, I need some assistance in building a hypno-ray." Rebecca scrunched her nose.

"Sorry, I've been having some trouble with that one too." She slid to the left, avoiding a small fellow freshman.

"I'll ask Medulla about it then relay it back to you kay?" Rebecca smiled and nodded.

"Sounds good to me." The crowds became denser. Sighing I pushed Rebecca behind me and activated my power. The first person to bump shoulders with me slipped away, causing me to simply walk by with Rebecca trailing behind me.

"This is possibly the only thing I'm useful for." I said jokingly. Rebecca laughed.

"You're plenty useful Pauline." Rebecca smiled.

"Oh yes, who would you call if you were doing the dishes and ran out of dish soap? Can't exactly call The Commander or Jetstream." I twisted around to face her, laughing at my own joke. Not being able to see what was going on I bumped into someone and heat exploded all over the left side of my body.

"Jesus!" My arm was on fire! Attempting to put it out, I swatted my arm with my other hand. This action caused another burst of flames on my fingers. This wonderful light show caused another student to panic, blasting me with icy breath, that girl was going to be a great hero one day. Still dancing around jittery, I realized that I wasn't the only one who was using their powers to clear the way. Standing in front of me was someone I had never wanted to meet, Warren Peace. The halls had hushed, small murmurs travelled, everyone trying to see what had happened and what was going to happen. My heart was racing, panic had taken hold. For that short moment of being on fire I had seriously thought that I was going to die. I let out as gurgled sigh or some unrecognizable sound. Backing up, kept my gaze down, walking around Warren. I rushed to my class, Rebecca following close by.

"Wow! That was- wow. Are you okay?" Rebecca touched my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a bit of a singe." Looking at my arm and fingers, I now know how it felt to be a candle, the distinct feel of a burn began to hit my nerves.

"Come one, I'll take you to the nurse's office." Rebecca slid my backpack off and dropped it in my classroom. I peeked through the doorway and spotted Mr. Boy.

"Mr. Boy, I have to go see Nurse Spex. I'll be back in a few minutes." I waved my burnt arms to show my reason for leaving.

"Take your time Ms. Roche. A wounded hero support is no use to her hero." Mr. Boy advised.

"Right'o!" With a one handed salute I was off to the nurse's office with Rebecca. It took no time in reaching the stark white room. We entered to find Nurse Spex playing with two tongue depressor sticks.

"Oh, hello dears! How can I help you?" the older woman stood up and quickly placed the sticks on her desk. I showed her my arm.

"Oh dear! What happened?" She gently grasped my arm looking it over. She led me over to the examination table and told me to sit.

"She brushed against Warren Peace and her arm burst into flames!" Rebecca piped in. My cheeks began to flush. This was ridiculous. I knew this would have happened at some point. I should have been watching where I was going. Anger bubbled in my stomach. I let out an aggravated sigh only to watch a bubble escape from my mouth.

"Power repulsion, eh?" Nurse Spex 'tsk'ed. She opened a cupboard and pulled out several items. She dabbed a cotton ball covered in antiseptic on my burns. I winced as she touched one particularly sore spot.

"What's power repulsion?" Rebecca looked a bit confused.

"Power repulsion is when two powers react to one another. Sometimes they counteract each other. Sometimes they react together creating a chemical reaction. Turbo Heat glued himself to Gecko once. The heat had made Gecko's glue unstable the baked it solid, practically welded them together." Nurse Spex explained. Rebecca opened her mouth in an 'o' shape showing she understood.

"Have you had any reactions like this before dear?" Nurse Spex looked up from my wounds. I nodded my head.

"A couple of times when I was younger, but those were only candles, never another power." Nurse Spex nodded, mouth in a firm line, thinking things over.

"Well, you're a little bit of a fire hazard aren't you." She gave me a small smile. "We'll be putting this in your record."

I gave her a confused look, Rebecca joined me. "Why would I need this in my record?" I asked.

"It's for team placements purposes, so that we don't place you with a fire related hero. There have been a couple accidents like that. Later in the year we usually have examinations to find if there are any power repulsions." Nurse Spex explained. I was learning quite a bit today.

"Nurse Spex, do you think my power could be repulsed?" Rebecca piped up. She looked a bit nervous.

"You're the 50 foot woman correct?" The elder nurse asked.

"Yes." Rebecca nodded.

"I would think," Nurse Spex thought for a moment, "the only thing you would have to worry about would be something along the lines of a radioactive size altering ray gun. Repulsions are usually related to chemical or element powers such as Miss Roche and Mr. Peace."

I looked over to see Rebecca nod again. There were so many complications with superpowers, why couldn't I be normal?

"Alright, Miss Mitchell, I appreciate you bringing Miss Roche in to see me, but you're missing class. I'll write a note for your teacher. Don't worry about your friend dear, the burns aren't that bad, she should be back before lunch." Nurse Spex walked over to her desk and pulled out a pen and a sticky note. Scribbling a few things down she ripped off the note and stuck it to Rebecca's shirt.

"There you go dearie." Rebecca gave me a silly smile referring to the sticky note and waved goodbye, heading off to her class room as Nurse Spex, who I began to assume was a bit off after that small display, picked up some ointment and gauze. She began to apply the ointment on. Soon after my left arm was wrapped up nicely along with my right hand. Nurse Spex stood up and handed me the remaining burn ointment and a small wad of gauze.

"Make sure you keep it clean dear. Warm or hot water will irritate it. Continue to change and apply the bandage and ointment in the morning and before bed. Come see me at the end of the week. We'll call your parents shortly, but for now you should be off to class dearie." Nurse Spex gave me a light pat on the shoulder and pushed me out of the school's medical office.

"Thanks." Waving to the older and strange woman I left to the remaining time of my Sidekick 101 class. So within the first week of school I had managed to meet my worst nightmare, find my power's weakness, and turn into a candle. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.


End file.
